Information about Showy Milkweed:

Asclepias speciosa is a milky-sapped perennial plant in the Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae), known commonly as the showy milkweed.

It is native to the western half of North America.This flowering plant is a hairy, erect perennial.The large, pointed, elongate, simple, entire leaves are arranged oppositely on stalks.The eye-catching, hirsute, pale pink through pinkish-purple flowers occur in dense umbellate cymes. Their corollas are reflexed and the central flower parts, five hoods with prominent hooks, form a star shape. The fruit is a large, rough follicle filled with many flat oval seeds, each with silky hairs.This species flowers from May through September.Native Americans used fiber in the stems for rope, basketry, and nets. Some Native Americans believed the milky sap had medicinal qualities, however, most species of milkweed are toxic.Asclepias speciosa is a specific Monarch butterfly food and habitat plant.